The announcement came at dawn.
A silver bell tolled across Ashveil Academy—an ancient tone reserved only for sanctioned duels.
Otoku, still shaken from the secrets of the Labyrinth, stood silently in the courtyard as the student body gathered around the stone dueling circle. The sky was overcast, rumbling with distant thunder.
"Kaen Veylor," called the arbiter, an elder mage wrapped in crow-feathered robes. "Challenged by Lenar Velmire of House Velmire. Combat shall be bloodless. Victory by submission, shattering of focus, or concession."
Otoku stepped forward. His cracked right hand pulsed faintly. Gravy crouched at his side, fur darkening at the tips—gaining faint ridges of bone.
Lenar Velmire was elegance sharpened into a blade—noble robes lined with ancestral glyphs, a longspear of pure arcanite slung casually across his back. His eyes gleamed with contempt.
"House Velmire accepts no rats climbing through drainpipes," he spat. "You entered the Labyrinth's forbidden levels. I don't know how—but you'll regret it."
Otoku didn't speak. He removed his cloak, eyes calm. But his left foot shifted subtly—recalling the combat stances of the Ashen Veil.
---
The Duel Begins
The circle shimmered. Glyphs of containment activated. Silence fell.
Lenar struck first—his spear blurring forward, flaring with wind. Otoku barely dodged, the edge slicing a line through his shoulder. He grimaced.
Gravy growled but didn't move. He was forbidden.
Otoku whispered under his breath—drawing from the Codex. Runes shimmered across his cracked hand. A mirage split off him, darting left.
Lenar sneered and stabbed it.
Wrong choice.
The real Otoku slipped under the spear, palm glowing with Null Sigil. He struck Lenar in the chest.
The noble gasped as his spear dulled—its magic erased.
"What—what did you do?!"
"Your bloodline's not immune to null magic," Otoku murmured. "Pity."
Lenar roared. But before he could recover, Gravy barked sharply—sending out a pulse of golden light. The crowd gasped.
Gravy's form had shifted again—his spine lined with faint glowing symbols. The corruption he'd absorbed from the Labyrinth had started changing him.
Codex Entry – Mutation Triggered:
Gravy's evolution has begun: "Ashborne Pup" → "Duskfang."
New Trait: Empathic Pulse (disorients one target for 2 seconds)
Lenar staggered. Otoku struck him cleanly in the gut.
He dropped to his knees, gasping.
"Concede," Otoku said softly.
The arbiter raised his hand. "Victory: Kaen Veylor."
---
Aftermath
Whispers spread through the students.
Who is Kaen Veylor?
Where did he learn null magic?
What is that beast at his side?
Back in his dorm, Otoku locked the door and sat on the edge of his bed. The Codex hovered faintly above his palm, showing a new quest:
Codex Quest Unlocked – "The Pale Lantern Sect"
Track down the Cult Sleeper Agents inside Ashveil.
Reward: Forbidden Spell – "Veilrend"
Gravy curled beside him, his golden eye half-closed.
Outside the window, a lantern flickered in the tower opposite—green flame twisting silently. Someone had watched the duel... and sent a signal.
Otoku clenched his fist.
"So they've noticed me."
---
Next Chapter Preview: Chapter 12 – "Veins of the Academy"
Otoku begins tracking cult activity, gains allies among cursed students, and uncovers a hidden dungeon beneath the library—one tied to his forgotten past.